Rock Island trail will soon span Knoxville

PEORIA — The final pieces are ready to be put in place — weather permitting — to complete the long-awaited Rock Island Greenway this spring.

Finally.

The project has encountered bureaucratic obstacles for decades before construction began on the bike and pedestrian rail-to-trail path. By late spring, the trail will be complete.

“This is the last piece of the puzzle filling in the last gaps, and our spine will be completed,” Peoria Park District planner Mike Friberg said.

The most visible construction left to be completed is a bridge over North Knoxville Avenue that spans from just south of the Junction City shopping center to near Northmoor Road.

The 210-foot span is scheduled to be set at 10 p.m. Thursday, meriting a closure of Knoxville for a short time, Friberg said. The second, 190-foot span will be set at 1 p.m. Friday.

Any onlookers are encouraged to approach from the north and heed any barriers or warnings from construction crews for safety reasons.

“We are absolutely thrilled about it, by all means,” said Chuck Hollis, CEO of Junction Ventures.

Junction City already has constructed the trail head on its property that will connect with the Rock Island Greenway approach to improve walkability and accessibility of its facility and neighborhood.

Personally, Hollis is looking forward to riding his bike to work from his home in Dunlap.

Professionally, he said the connectivity provided by the park district will have a positive impact on his and other businesses, as well as to the general public.

“I guarantee there will be more development that occurs because of this trail,” Hollis said. “All up and down (the trail).”

Finishing touches — the asphalt approaches, a concrete deck, guardrails and lighting — will be done in the subsequent months, setting up for a full opening in April or May.

The $2.75 million bridge is funded entirely by the Illinois Department of Transportation, leaving only staff time as a cost to the park district.

Rick Anderson, project manager for Maurer-Stutz, said the 14-foot wide bridge adheres to ADA standards, public right-of-way guidelines and IDOT clearance mandates to span a state highway.

The toughest problem was negotiating the project and equipment away from Ameren Illinois power lines in the area and other utilities, such as water mains, buried below the abandoned rail line.

“It’s something that the city needs, and this thing needs to be connected all the way through,” said Anderson, who also oversaw construction of the Bob Michel Bridge.

Despite a late start because of contract delays at the state level, the project moved quickly in 2013 to make up time and go into a winter shutdown right on schedule.

The bitterly cold and especially snowy months that followed made for slow progress, but crews rented large heating blankets to keep the ground thawed near the bridge site and allow excavation work to continue.

The project is expected to be done within about a month of the previous April 15 completion date.

A second nearly completed project is the section of trail from Springdale Cemetery to Glen Avenue along what used to be the Kellar Branch rail line.

Paving was completed before winter weather set in, a huge park district victory according to Friberg, leaving only singage, seeding and fencing to be done to open that partial path.

While simple, Friberg states bikers and pedestrians should be aware of safety risks in the area while awaiting a ground thaw and fence installation.

“That fencing is important. There’s a lot of steep slopes there that could be really dangerous,” Friberg said.

Laura Nightengale can be reached at 686-3181 or lnightengale@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @lauranight.